Quentin Tarantino's "Kill Bill" was a story released in two parts, with "Vol. 1" hitting theaters in November 2003 and "Vol. 2" in May 2004. The first part was a hyper-violent, cold, low-dialogue affair, whereas the second installment was a talky, emotional film that was (to some fans) a little disappointing on the action front. It seems like each volume has weaknesses that are best addressed by the strengths of the other. If only there some sort of supercut of "Kill Bill" that combined both volumes
into one big, standalone movie!
Turns out there is: "Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair" first screened at Cannes in 2006 and then released to limited theaters. It's an over four-hour film that tells the entire story. Is that a little too long for the average viewer's patience? Sure, but the movie's not for the average viewer. It's for the Tarantino superfan and for film critics who love the idea of playing around with a movie's structure and studying the effects.
But as much as many would love to watch "The Whole Bloody Affair," the film's notoriously hard to get your hands on. After its Cannes screening, it mostly only screens at select theaters in Los Angeles and only on certain rare occasions. Are you part of the 99% of the world that doesn't live in Los Angeles? Well, tough luck, because these screenings largely only seem to happen in LA.
The key to catching a screening of the 258-minute film is to simply search the name of it on a semi-daily basis. When a movie theater decides to show the film again, it usually receives a report from one of the trade magazines, which is how many fans found out about some recent screenings at Vista Theater.
Read more: The 15 Best Sequels To Bad Movies
Is Kill Bill Really Better As One Big Movie?
Since the moment "The Whole Bloody Affair" first released, fans have been debating whether it's truly the best way to experience the film. The volumes' different tones may seem jarring to some, but they also help make each volume feel like their own distinct, standalone thing. Mashing together two films that audiences in the 2000s enjoyed separately might be unwise, many argue.
Maybe the best way to experience the "Kill Bill" saga is to watch "Vol. 1," wait a little, and then "Vol. 2." Some fans think you can't properly appreciate the second part unless you get a taste of the wait that Tarantino fans had to suffer through at the time.
On the other hand, there are little changes "The Whole Bloody Affair" has reportedly made that make the story more satisfying. A big one is that it cuts the cliffhanger scene in "Vol. 1" that reveals Beatrix's kid is still alive. That scene made a good final note for "Vol. 1," but it messes with the pacing in a combined film. The result of cutting it is that when Beatrix sees her daughter for the first time, it's a shock not just to her but to the first-time viewer. The scene is arguably far more powerful when presented in this new format.
Is Combining Two Separate Movies (Or Books) Always The Best Idea?
The debate over how to watch "Kill Bill" feels similar to the debate in the "Game of Thrones" fandom over how to read the fourth and fifth books in the series. Author George R. R. Martin had originally intended "A Feast for Crows" and "The Dance with Dragons" to be one giant book, but he was forced by publishing constraints (and his own lack of restraint with the plotting) to separate the story into two parts. He divided the book not by chronology but by geography; fans still can't decide if this was the right decision.
In the years since, some fans have come up with the Boiled Leather edition, which has several minor variations. It provides fans with a new chapter reading order for both books, so that you can experience books 4 and 5 as one giant 2,000+ page epic told in chronological order. A lot fans prefer this version because it provides a greater sense of scale and a stronger sense of building momentum, but other fans consider this approach somewhat sacrilegious.
It doesn't matter if Martin originally intended to write one big book, some argue; what matters is that he ended up writing it in two parts, and he made an effort to make those parts feel whole. Both books have their own special themes they explore separately, and to mash them together might complicate all of that too much.
The split release of "Kill Bill" was nowhere near as messy as the release of Martin's latest two "A Song of Ice and Fire" books, but the debate among fans remain the same. Does it really matter if Tarantino intended the movie to be one big film, if he made two movies anyway and made sure they each felt distinct? "The Whole Bloody Affair" is definitely a fun treat for fans who can manage to find a screening for it, but perhaps the purest way to enjoy the story is to watch it in the original format in which it released.
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Read the original article on SlashFilm.
